Mysterious bathtub off South Florida coast removed

MIAMI (WSVN) -- There was a strange sight on the rocks right off the South Florida coast that left many to wonder how it got there.

It's one of the most beautiful sites in South Florida, Government Cut, South Pointe Park, the beach and the ocean. But the sight was briefly filled up by a bathtub.

Skyforce HD caught a glimpse of the tub on top of gigantic rocks that line the end of Government Cut.

The tub was there for roughly a day and a half, until Wednesday morning. "A police boat was just rolling by and a porcelain tub was beside it," said Rich Myers. "It was kind of random."

A production crew, like many Miami Beach beachgoers saw the police boat haul the tub away at around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Florida Fish and Wildlife were first made aware of the tub Monday and declared it a hazard to boating traffic. "Whether artsy or not," said Jorge Pino of Florida Fish & Wildlife, "The fact remains that it is against the law and it's considered littering. And you shouldn't be putting foreign objects in an area where it could potentially become a navigational hazard."

"It was weird, it was really weird," said a Victoria Masters. Weird and strangely enough, not uncommon. On New Year's Day, 2011, a baby grand piano was discovered on a sand bar in Biscayne Bay. It gained national fame and mystique.

The tub is eerily reminiscent. "Cool," said a beachgoer. "I think it's kind of interesting. It can correlate with that piano-thing a couple of years ago. It's something different."

That bathtub was placed on a dock by the bay. It was picked up by Marine Patrol and dropped off there. The sanitation department then removed it from.

Just exactly who placed it on the rocks and how they did it remains unknown. However, police have speculated that it may be a publicity stunt by an artist as Art Basel Miami Beach approaches, next week.

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